New blood donors wanted
By Katie O'Keeffe
The Covid-19 pandemic has made it harder for the Irish Blood Transfusion Service to receive donations, the Cork Independent has learned.
One-in-four people will need a blood transfusion at some point in their lives with approximately over 1,000 Irish people receiving transfusions every week in Ireland.
Just three per cent of the Irish population donates blood regularly and since moving to an appointment-based system in March 2020 the difficulty to keep blood supply up to level has proved difficult.
At the end of June, 115 units of a particular type of RhD Negative blood were imported from England for the first time since the 1990’s.
Maureen Gill-Emerson Donor Services Manager told the Cork Independent the service needs more donations: “This time of year is notoriously difficult for us as people are usually on break or enjoying the summer weather so there is always a drop in donations but adding that to the Covid-19 pandemic it has made things that little bit harder.”
Usually when supply is low the Irish Blood Transfusion Service would start appeals and people would be able to queue up outside the door but due to restrictions that is no longer possible
The usual venues such as local schools, clubs, community halls or small hotels to donate blood can no longer do so because these venues are not suitable in a pandemic.
As a result, many donors have had to travel longer journeys to donate blood at bigger venues which is not as accessible.
Maureen added: “The demand hospitals are asking for is the same if not more than pre-Covid-19, hospitals are catching up on procedures that were cancelled, so there is no shortage of demand in the hospitals.”
The Irish Blood Donation Service have missed out on new donors due to the Covid-19 pandemic forcing them to rely heavily on their regular donors.
“For a while we weren’t taking new donors for safety precautions, we couldn’t attend universities which would be a big cohort we rely on for getting new donors,” she said.
An avid donor
Sara, daughter of Kevin Higgins, needed 110mls of blood following a major surgery at six months old. Since then, Kevin has become an avid donor encouraging others to get involved
“I went to a blood clinic nearly 12 years ago but I couldn’t donate straight away so I never followed up,” explained Kevin
When Sara was born she was diagnosed with a rare condition called Muenke Syndrome which is a condition characterised by the premature closure of certain bones of the skull during development, which affects the shape of the head and face. There is only about one case each year in Ireland.
Sara and her parents travelled to Temple Street hospital for months with her condition and at six months old she had a surgery on her skull which caused her to need a blood transfusion.
Kevin said: “When Sara had the surgery and we found out she had the transfusion it was a real wake up call to me as I could have been donating blood for ten years at that stage. I felt like an idiot at the time and I promised myself that I would start giving blood as often as I can.”
He added: “I was just lazy really there was no reason good enough for why I hadn’t given blood before.”
Kevin, who works for the Cork Fire Service, says every day he answers a call it hits home how much blood is really needed.
“I see people in road traffic collisions and fires who will need blood and it helps to know I have helped in the supply,” he said.
Although a donor does not know who received their blood, they do receive a text from the Irish Blood Transfusion Service letting them know which hospital it has been sent to.
Anyone in Cork who wishes to donate blood can visit giveblood.ie to find out where the next clinic is.
Clinics are by appointment only and more information is available by phoning 1850-731137.